CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-CONGRESSIONAL POWERS-VALIDITY OF THE 1953 SUBMERGED LANDS ACT

Authors

William D. Keeler, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

In 1947 and 1950 the Supreme Court held that the coastal states had no property interest in the submerged lands lying seaward from the low water mark, whether ownership of this land was held by the state prior to admission into the Union or not, and that the federal government had paramount rights in and power over this land, including the resources of the soil beneath it. In 1953 Congress passed, and the President signed, the Submerged Lands Act, which vested in the coastal states title to and proprietary power over this land. Alabama and Rhode Island petitioned the Court for leave to file complaints against two of the coastal states as to actions taken and proposed to be taken under this act. Held, per curiam, two justices dissenting, motion denied. Under article IV, section 3, clause 2 of the Constitution, Congress has an unlimited power to dispose of any kind of property belonging to the United States. Alabama v. Texas, 347 U.S. 272, 74 S.Ct. 481 (1954).

Recommended Citation

William D. Keeler, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-CONGRESSIONAL POWERS-VALIDITY OF THE 1953 SUBMERGED LANDS ACT, 52 Mich. L. Rev. 1237 (1954).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol52/iss8/13